


Nargles

by sweetcarolanne



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Co-Parenting, Engagement, F/F, Healing, Kid Fic, Magic, Mistletoe, Post-War, Romance, Seasonal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27893125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcarolanne/pseuds/sweetcarolanne
Summary: Fleur and Tonks, together with Tonks's little son Teddy, build a family together and seek happiness as they strive to heal from their traumatic past...
Relationships: Fleur Delacour/Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17
Collections: Mistletoe Exchange 2020





	Nargles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Isilloth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isilloth/gifts).



> Dear recipient, I hope you enjoy this gift! It was fun to write.
> 
> Many thanks to my anonymous beta.

“Zut alors!”

Fleur ran as fast as she could to catch the falling ladder, reaching for her wand as she did so, but neither her outstretched hand nor a badly belated spell could stop the ladder from toppling sideways, snagging the line of tinsel and glass Christmas balls and sending everything crashing to the floor. She sighed and started casting “Reparo” spells left and right, sweeping a lock of silver-blonde hair back under the headscarf from which it had escaped.

Two-year-old Teddy, seated on a mat on the ground nearby and playing with a musical plush toy dog which had been the first of many early Christmas gifts from his grandmother Andromeda, looked up and chuckled.

“Eet’s not funny,” Fleur huffed, but still couldn’t resist giving Tonks’s little son a loving smile.

Tonks and Fleur’s little son, as soon as the adoption was made official and the papers signed.

Wondering why on earth Tonks had chosen to put up decorations the Muggle way, Fleur watched the last of the formerly shattered spheres of colourful glass join back together with a look of tired relief all over her beautiful face.

“Good as new,” she thought, and turned to cast more spells to put the rest of the baubles up in a proper magical fashion.

“What happened here, love? Are my bad habits rubbing off on you or something?”

Tonks stood in the doorway, a playful expression on her face once she saw that Fleur’s quick way with a wand had averted disaster. She put down the armful of packages she’d been carrying, wrinkled her nose and shook her head a little, and her hair took on the glittering, rainbow hues of the glass balls that had formerly lain in fragments on the floor. Little Teddy squealed with joy.

“MUMMY!” he called out, and Tonks swooped over to pick him up and cover his little face with kisses.

Fleur gave a small smile and threw a piece of loose tinsel in Tonks’s direction. Teddy reached out and caught it, and gave it a vigorous shake.

“I hope you’ve been good for Maman, even though she’s been wrecking the place,” Tonks told the child, and Fleur put her hands on her hips.

“Eef zat silly ladder had not been zere, eet would not ‘ave ‘appened,” Fleur said with a mock pout. Tonks grinned, and her nose glowed red like the one on the reindeer lantern a local Muggle shop had placed in their front window. 

Teddy started to laugh, and that was enough to make Fleur burst out laughing too, and she ran to Tonks, throwing her arms around her fiancée and child, kissing them both; a peck on the cheek for Teddy, and a brief but slightly more lingering press of lips to lips for Tonks.

“I’ll make us a cup of tea, love,” Tonks said, handing Teddy over to Fleur and heading for the kitchen. 

“Use magic, please!” Fleur called after Tonks, following her to the kitchen and placing Teddy into his high chair. Arthur Weasley had recently made the young family an engagement present of some kind of fancy Muggle tea-making device, and when Tonks had attempted to get the contraption working, she had ended up flooding the kitchen, much to Fleur’s chagrin. 

While Tonks was attending to the tea, Fleur kept an eye on Teddy and sat down at the kitchen table, going back to the pile of parchment she’d been making notes on earlier with a bright pink Fwooper quill. 

The notes were lists of things to do for the war orphans’ Christmas party, organised by Andromeda Tonks and Minerva McGonagall, which had now become an annual charity event and was considered one of the highlights of the wizarding social calendar. This year, Fleur and Tonks had been roped in to help with this worthy cause, and had thrown themselves wholeheartedly into preparations.

It was going to be a happy Christmas, Fleur firmly believed, although no doubt it would be a bittersweet one for many. Including for herself and for the woman she loved.

Not being with her family in France for the Christmas season this year would feel so strange and sad for Fleur, but she tried to console herself with the fact that her little sister Gabrielle would be coming to stay with her and Tonks for the entire summer holidays. Summer, however, felt so far away… but this was only a small disappointment compared to the tragedies in so many other lives.

Fleur’s eyes began to blur with tears that she struggled to blink away at the mere thought of what her beloved Tonks had suffered, of the massive losses she had faced. The deaths of Tonks’s father and husband within such a short space of time… everyone had lost somebody they loved, and still strove to rebuild some sense of a normal life and find meaning in the world they had fought to rescue from the clutches of unbearable darkness. They had to keep going, all of them, or else the hard-won victory against Voldemort would seem a hollow one.

Tonks was strong, always there to lean on when Fleur needed her, and Fleur was going to do her best to show strength and resilience for Tonks’s sake. 

If only picking up the pieces of shattered lives was as easy as cleaning up splinters of shiny broken glass.

“Tea’s ready!” Tonks announced, walking back with the teapot as Fleur got up to fetch the cups and saucers, careful to move her notes out of the way as Tonks was sure to spill at least a little of the tea all over the table.

Which she did, of course.

Fleur rolled her eyes and handed Teddy a sippy cup of milk and several slices of apple before grabbling a cloth to wipe up the mess.

“After zis, I will finish with ze Chreestmas party lists. And put up ze rest of ze decorations back zere,” Fleur announced, finally settling down to enjoy her well-earned cup of tea. Although Fleur would have preferred coffee, she did have to admit Tonks did brew a very good pot of tea.

“Decorations? Now I remember what I forgot to bring in!” Tonks exclaimed, and leapt up out of her seat, almost spilling tea everywhere yet again. She ran out to the hallway and brought in the mistletoe she’d put aside while bringing in the parcels which contained the war orphans’ Christmas presents.

“And yes, I’ll remember to use magic!” Tonks declared, drawing her wand. In seconds the mistletoe was fastened tightly to the top of the nearest doorframe. She stood back and admired her handiwork, and Fleur’s spirits soared to see her beloved able to feel delight in the simple things of life again.

It had taken so long, but the healing was beginning. And a New Year’s wedding would do even more to ease the pain of the past.

“You know, Fleur,” Tonks said with a grin, “I’ve heard it said that mistletoe’s often infested with Nargles. Do you think it is?”

Fleur was smiling widely herself, getting up from the table to wrap her arms around Tonks’s waist.

“Ah yes, ze Nargles,” she purred, the merest hint of a seductive tone in her voice. “Eef I remember correctly, zey ‘ave ze strange effect of making people do… zis?”

She gave Tonks a soft kiss on the lips, and Tonks reached out to stroke the lock of hair that had again escaped the confines of Fleur’s blue cotton headscarf.

“Oh, Fleur… You always look so gorgeous in all your fancy silky dress robes, but you’ve never looked more beautiful to me than you are right now, in your old clothes all rumpled from housework and your hair a mess. Taking care of our house and of our son… you’re the strongest, hardest-working woman I’ve ever met, and I love you.”

Fleur’s eyes were shining as they kissed again, their lips parted wide and their tongues entwined. They stayed that way, embracing under the mistletoe, until they heard a giggle from Teddy and slid apart, blushing and laughing themselves.


End file.
